What a great start to the college football season. Georgia Tech is off to a 2-0 start and both games have been great experiences.
On the Thursday before Labor Day a bunch of us headed up to Chicago to enjoy the city before heading over to Notre Dame. Chicago is one of my favorite cities, because it has such a pulse to it. While there I had a chance to check out plenty of attractions, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Millennium Park, a boat tour of the river and all of the amazing architecture surrounding it, Navy Pier, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Sears Tower was a notable omission but I've been before. I also had the chance to sample plenty of authentic Chicago cuisine, including an Italian beef sandwich, a chicago-style dog, and the obligatory deep-dish pizza. The only downside of the trip was the mess that was my attempt to get back to the airport on the El after the game. A combination of misinformation from the hotel desk clerk and stupidity on my part (due to working on 3 hours of sleep) led to me having quite the time getting home. Oh well, c'est la vie.
Now, as for Notre Dame: what an interesting trip. We allowed 3 hours drive time (although it's a one-hour drive), assuming gameday traffic would be crazy. In reality, the roads were empty. What we came to find out was that Midwesterners apparently have no real concept of getting to the game real early - which is fine with me, because it made our trip easier (despite my leaving my ticket in the hotel room and having to go back for it after 20 minutes on the road).
Notre Dame itself was quite subdued - all of the tailgate spots are located on the edge of campus, so the campus grounds themselves, and all the beautiful greenspace, are all open and inviting. And the fans were the nicest I've ever seen - numerous times people would stop us to say welcome and to wish us an enjoyable time. I've never seen anything like it. It almost made me feel bad that we stomped them the way we did.
Then again, I wouldn't have had it any other way. There's nothing quite as fulfilling as crushing an opponent.
Ahh, the first home game. Tailgating. The thrill of the home crowd. The energy of the stadium. Post-game celebrations. More food and drink than anyone could handle. The whole thing is a blast, and it always helps when you open up with an undersized, overwhelmed opponent. The tailgate was short but sweet, and a ton of people showed up (around 50!). The game started out good and just got better - the only downside was the sweltering heat. But it was a small price to pay for a great win.
My original prediction for the season had us at 8-4, losing 4 of the following games: Notre Dame, Boston College, Clemson, VT, Miami, Georgia. After seeing our team, I'm changing the prediction to 10-2, with possible losses in the following games: Clemson, Georgia, VT. The first step is to take care of BC at home this week, which I really feel will be a statement game for us. And the game is at 8 PM, meaning an all-day tailgate is on the horizon. I can hardly wait for Saturday to get here...
Posted by sdishman at September 10, 2007 9:04 PMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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